VIEJA BOCOURTI

Care

Typically found in lakes and slow-moving water, this large cichlid is a rather placid fruit and veg specialist.

As the type locality for this fish is a large lake with some ingress by the sea, it should be noted that this is a fish that is best kept in hard water. There should be a soft sandy substrate and numerous hiding places/visual barriers created amongst the decor from large pieces of driftwood and rocks/slate. Such structures should be made secure as these large cichlids are more than capable of moving the decor around. All aquatic plants will be seen as food, so are best omitted from the aquascape, or else consider using plastic/silk varieties. Filtration should be very efficient (these fish are messy eaters) but water movement fairly gentle. This species is especially sensitive to the build-up of pollutants, so small frequent water changes are a must to help keep nitrogenous waste to a minimum. The Bocourti cichlid is shy and relatively peaceful - as far as large Central American cichlids go - although it is still rather territorial, especially when breeding. The best results come from keeping these fish in a good-sized group from which they can select mates, expect males to grow faster than females and avoid selecting all the largest individuals in the batch when buying juveniles as you may end up with a bachelor group. Good tankmates include large armoured catfish, and sizeable barbs or characins that can tolerate harder water. Do not house with small fish or with any exceptionally aggressive species.

May also be seen as Chiseltooth cichlid.

Feeding

These fish are primarily vegetarian and appear to eat fruit fallen from overhanging trees in the wild. Offer green flake, Spirulina based pellets/sticks, crushed algae wafers etc, with the occasional addition of fresh fruit such as grapes or pear and vegetable matter such as courgette, cucumber, kale, spinach etc. Other, meatier foods will be taken, but it is important to ensure that these fish receive a diet that is mainly vegetable based. Although they attain a large size, they retain a small mouth into adulthood, so pellet foods should be appropriately sized for them.

Breeding

Bi-parental substrate spawner. Prior to spawning, the colouration of the fish will intensify and they will choose and clean a suitable spawning site - usually a flat rock or a depression dug in the substrate. Several hundred eggs will be deposited/fertilised, and the female takes on primary brood care, whilst the male patrols the general perimeter. The eggs should hatch within 3-4 days, and the fry should be free-swimming just a few days later. Offer them baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii) and crushed green flake, moving on to larger foodstuffs as they grow. Both male and female exhibit excellent parental care.